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[speaking spanish] [applause] >> come back to c-span's live coverage of the trump administration's actions in venezuela. earlier today, you were watching senators rick scott and ashley moody. on your screen is from earlier today, when nicolas maduro , the opposed leader of venezuela it was brought to jail. he has been held there since the surprise raid this weekend. he was transported to a new york

courthouse. he is set to appear at noon eastern time today, to face narco terrorism charges. there is the helicopter taking off and taking him to the courthouse. we have live coverage of his appearance today at that new york courthouse and we will bring you special coverage at 1:00 eastern time. until then, more on the actions by the trump administration against venezuela and its dethroned leader. these are the charges that the u.s. is alleging against nicolas maduro, his wife, other family members and associates. narco terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine. explosive's possession, as well as conspiracy to use weapons against the united states. nicolas maduro was born in 1962. he's a former bus driver turned union leader. he assumed the presidency in

2000, after hugo chavez's death. he has ruled venezuela by decree since 2015. president trump spoke to reporters about the strikes against venezuela and the decision to capture the leader and his wife and family. this is what he had to say about reiterating that the u.s. is now in control of venezuela. -- while answering questions from reporters yesterday. >> have you spoken to the newly sworn in president there, rodriguez? and what are your thoughts on the entire situation? >> we are dealing with the people. we are dealing with the people who got sworn in. don't ask me who's in charge because i will give you an answer that will be very controversial. >> what is that mean? >> we are in charge. >> have you spoken with her? >> we are in charge. >> have you spoken with her? >> no.

>> do you want to? >> at the white time -- right time. >> -- >> she is cooperating. we have to do one thing in venezuela. bring it back. it's a dead country. frankly, we would have been. if i have lost the election, we would have been a dead country. we would have been venezuela on steroids. venezuela right now is a dead country. we have to bring it back. we have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure. the oil companies are ready to go. they will rebuild the infrastructure. i know it was many years ago. they took it away. you can't do that. you can't do that with me. they did it with the other president. >> how soon can an election take place in venezuela? how soon can an election take place? >> we are looking at getting it fixed and ready first.

the country is a mess. host: president trump on sunday, taking questions from reporters about who now controls venezuela, from politico's reporting this morning, they say that venezuela is now in the hands of medeiros deputy, delsea -- maduro's deputy, delsea rodriguez. now, we want to get your reaction to the actions by the trump administration. there are the lines on your screen. democrats, 20 2-748-eight 920 one. republicans, 202-7 48-8920. independents, 202-748-8922. venezuelans, 20 2-748-8923.

>> mr. secretary, i think there's a lot of questions about who the point people are during this transition. president trump said we are going to run the country. so, is it you? is it secretary hegseth? who are those people who will be running the country specifically? >> it's not running -- it's running policy. we want venezuela to move in a certain direction. not only do we think it's good for the people of venezuela, it's in our national interest. it touches on something that is a threat to our national security or touches on something that is beneficial or harmful. >> are you involved in that transition? >> of course. everyone knows i'm pretty involved in politics in this hemisphere. the department of war plays an important role here along with

the department of justice, for example. they are the ones that have to go to court. this is a team effort by the entire national security apparatus of our country. but it is running this policy. the goal of the policy is to see changes in venezuela that are beneficial to the united states, first and foremost, because that's who we work for. but also, we believe, beneficial for the people of venezuela who have suffered tremendously. who want a better future for venezuela and we think a better future for the peach will -- people of venezuela is stabilizing and makes where we live in a much better and safer place. host: marco rubio on meet the press yesterday, clarifying what agencies will be involved in controlling venezuela. we want to get your reaction today, ahead of that noon arraignment of nicolas maduro, the dethroned leader of venezuela. we will get to your calls in a minute. secretary of state marco rubio will be heading to capitol hill today. he, along with the defense secretary, pete hegseth and the

attorney general, pam bondi, as well as the cia director, john radcliffe, and the joint chief chair, general dan kane. they will all be on capitol hill today, for a briefing with lawmakers at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. it is a select group of lawmakers that will get a briefing on venezuela. let's go to capitol hill. max cohen is joining us there. he's a politico news reporter, to talk more about this briefing. you scooped that this briefing will be happening today. what did you know and how did it come about? guest: i think there is a great desire among members of congress and these key committees to get more information about what exactly is happening in venezuela. there is a lot of clambering from lawmakers on what exactly is the united states role? they did not give traditional heads up about this to members of congress. they said we have to go to the hill to explain our actions.

i do have to say, the main thing happening right now is confusion among these lawmakers about is the u.s. running venezuela, will it be u.s. troops, boots on the ground? and what are the next steps with regards to this operation. sounds like -- host: sounds like those we the questions asked today. who will be in the room? >> we have top committee leaders from the house and senate, armed services committees, the foreign affairs committees, of course, as well as the gang of eight, the top congressional leaders from both parties. they are privy to this intelligence information. i want to also note that there have been similar briefings over the past number of reap -- weeks in the latter stage of 2025 about what the united states was doing in the caribbean with these folk strikes and with regard to venezuela. time after time, the trump administration officials told members of congress they are not seeking regime change. obviously, that's exactly what

happened this week. so, there's a lack of trust with democrats on the trump administration and we expect that to come up during this briefing. host: on the democratic side, what's leadership saying versus the rank and file? how do they want the party to respond to the trump administration? guest: they are walking an interesting typo. nicolas maduro is not a popular figure and all of their statements have made great pains to acknowledge that. what most democrats are also saying in their main message is congress should have been consulted. and they do not like that president trump, as he has done time after time again, is trying to bypass congress with a lot of his decision-making. in addition, their skepticism about him getting involved in a foreign conflict. we see why democrats compare this to the invasion of iraq, saying are we going to put u.s. military members at risk for a country that is far away from our own country, and which democrats allege there is not a significant national interest

into what the united states is doing in venezuela. host: we should marco rubio on nbc's meet the press yesterday. he, also in the interview, said there is not a war. we are at war with drug trafficking organizations, not a war against venezuela. what are some possible steps you could see from members of congress, in response to the actions in venezuela, on the floor? is there legislation there teaming up? guest: they are taking steps to hold votes this week on whether there was authorization of abuse of military force. democrats say we can't be involved in foreign conflict. the trump administration is saying this is not a war. democrats see it differently. democrats are trying to force a vote in the senate saying are we involved in conflict? if we are, the senate is not going to give its consent to this without having been considered. we have seen some of the boats

happen along these lines with regards to the boat strikes and they have only a -- attracted a handful of republican votes. republicans are largely behind what the trump administration is doing. host: have you seen any cracks in the gop front, since the actions that were taken two days ago and that surprise rate? guest: i think there is a small number of republicans who are perhaps more isolationist, who say the trump -- what the trump administration is doing is antithetical to what donald trump ran on. these are member's like rand paul and thomas massie and marjorie taylor greene, who are conservative, no doubt but also are staking out some anti-trump issue positions. i want to say this is a very small minority of congressional republicans. the vast majority of republicans are behind this action. they say maduro is someone who needed to go.

there are some loud voices speaking out against it. for the most part, republicans are behind trump. host: who are some members to watch? we were showing a news conference where senators rick scott and ashley moody were with venezuelan community leaders, applauding the trump administration action. is the florida delegation members to watch her in congress this week? -- here in congress this week? guest: that's right. florida has a large venezuelan population. many of whom were fleeing the shabbos-maduro regime. they will be in favor of what the united states is doing in venezuela. there are some other traditional republican foreign policy hawks. folks like lindsey graham, who will be very friendly in favor of this. but also on the contrasting side, i think rand paul is a republican we should keep an eye

on. he's been very much against boat strikes in the caribbean and he has come out hard against the action in venezuela. host: max cohen, what's new? guest: we will have to wait and see what comes out of this briefing. the main thing we are tracking is how angry democrats will be. they will allege -- is the trump administration lying to them? they have said multiple times are you seeking change and rubio and hegseth said no. they will say can we trust anything you are telling us. that will be one storyline. the other storyline that's not going away is the role of congress in these conflicts. this is not unique to trump. many presidents have taken military action without consulting congress without a vote on the floor of congress. this is just another step of congress ceding power.

host: i think our viewers will have a lot to say as well. max cohen, thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: we want to get your reaction while we wait for the arraignment of nicolas maduro, the former leader of venezuela. he's set to appear in a federal court in new york, after being held in brooklyn -- a brooklyn jail since the surprise rate over the weekend. as you heard from max on capitol hill, secretary of state marco rubio, along with defense secretary pete hegseth, attorney general pam bondi, cia director john radcliffe and the joint chiefs of staff chair at general dan kane, they were briefing lawmakers at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. a select group of lawmakers. we will have coverage of the stakeout outside of that closed-door briefing. in the meantime, richard in tampa, florida, republican.

richard, what do you say about the u.s. actions in venezuela? caller: i think it was great. it's funny how the democrats have turned into hypocrites. they put up a $50 million reward for his capture and they didn't do nothing about it. that was during the last administration. i believe they stole the election. that's another story. also, there is a video that shows not only harry reid, but it shows bill clinton, hillary clinton. it shows tim kaine, it shows quite a few politicians, including obama, talking about how we needed a wall. but when trump's gets in office and starts building the wall, they have a problem with it. i've heard this over and over and believe it's true. if donald trump walked on water, they would say he only did it because he couldn't swim. i'm tired of the hypocrites. i was a democrat for the better part of my life.

i'm 75 now. i was a democrat for up to the second term of obama. i voted for obama and i'm sorry i did that the first time. i voted against mccain because i thought he was a warmonger. i didn't realize just how bad obama was going to destroy this country. host: all right. richard who agrees with the trump administration's actions in venezuela. nancy, fresno, california, democratic color. what do you say? caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i'm really upset about what's going on. we have created our own nationstate in venezuela. more to the point, i am looking at the charges contained in the indictment and i don't know how we have jurisdiction over this man or his wife. two of the charges have to do with machine-gun possessions, machine gun possessions where? in venezuela. we don't have subject matter

jurisdiction over either mr. maduro or his wife. i'm not a fan of dictators. i'm not a fan of donald trump for that reason but we don't have the right to go after anybody's country and snatch them and bring them to our country to prosecute when we don't have jurisdiction. the only count i think that will hold up in the grand jury is the one alleging conspiracy to import cocaine in this country. by the way, there's no mention in the indictment of fentanyl. the only allegations that will hold up in the grand jury is conspiracy. conspiracy contains two people who make an agreement to commit a crime. they don't even have to know each other. if you have five or six or 10 people involved in this alleged cocaine importing conspiracy, who named maduro, then he's going to be convicted of conspiracy. i think he's going to walk, completely. host: does it make a difference

in your argument that the trump administration says we don't recognize him as a foreign leader, and they say that he is the head of a drug cartel? caller: no. he's the head of a drug cartel in venezuela. not the united states. the venezuelan supreme leader, i don't know that that's true. i don't know that it's our business to take out people who we don't like their politics and are running other countries. a lot of people in the world don't like donald trump. believe me, they don't. the united nations security council is meeting and criticizing the united states for these actions. there's a lot of people in the world that don't like donald trump. do they have a right to come to washington, d.c. and snatch him and take them to their country -- take them to their country and prosecute him? no they don't. we would be outraged. thank you for taking my call. host: nancy in fresno,

california, talking about the u .n. security council meeting that was called today. we have been live on c-span two with that debate happening at the u.n. security council. george, independent. we will get your thoughts. caller: first of all, the whole story about maduro being the head of a narco drug cartel, this man had access to 100 billion gallons of oil. he sold it all on the black market. why would he even deal with drugs? he was making much more morning -- money with the oil. i think the whole story with the drugs and the drug cartel is made up for a reason for us to go in there. we've been wanting to go in there for 10 years. not only to get the oil.

but rare earth minerals. so, it's full of holes. the whole story. host: live outside of the court room right now, we can see a live shot of this new york-manhattan courtroom, where nicolas maduro is set to appear. cameras are not allowed as far as we can tell, from reporting. there will be reporters in the room, if they can get a seat. spectrums new york one will have live special coverage of this court proceeding at noon eastern time. they will have a reporter in the courtroom. and we will bring you their coverage, simulcast it at noon eastern -- simulcast at noon eastern time. in san antonio, independent, we will hear from you. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a 67-year-old mexican-american.

i have a deep understanding of what's happening because i moved from el paso to san antonio to get away from the border, where i saw with frequency but the cartels were doing at the border. my wife and i specifically moved to move our kids over here. people were shooting from across -- into the county court building. young women were being abducted. i always wondered as a kid, why is somebody taking these people out? they are openly doing all of these really brutal acts, for a long, long time. in the jurisdiction thing was always like how can we stop this? and finally, president trump and his administration decided to do something about this, which should have been done a long

time ago. so, i fully agree with what he's doing. and it's amazing to me how our congress is clueless as to what's been happening all this time historically. i guess government, big government in america, has been so focused on all of these programs that they have to manage, that they don't -- they are not able to see outside of our country what is happening in the world at large and right here in our own yard, in our hemisphere. so, i applaud -- host: would you welcome debate on the house and senate floors, where you could hear from members of congress from both sides of the aisle debate whether or not that united states should have taken the action that it did in venezuela? caller: is not a question of debate. it's a question of getting the information and understanding what's happening at that -- like on the border.

from texas to florida to arizona to california, all of us who live on the border, we have seen this for decades. and it's like -- it's not a question of debate anymore. it's been happening for way too long. it's like when are we going to stop this? host: senate majority leader john thune, a republican of south dakota, he's taking a delegation of senators to the border on friday. that's reporting from capitol hill outlets this morning. they will be going down to the border on friday. and so, we can expect some news coverage out of their visit as well. thaddeus in boca raton, florida. hi, thaddeus. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. your thoughts on the president's actions in venezuela, the capturing of their former leader. caller: i think it's awesome. i think it was long overdue. and over 50 countries have approved of the measure so far.

it's amazing, when you listen to some of these people that are calling in, that there no drugs in venezuela and that trump is doing this and trump is doing that, trump is leading. that's for sure. it's amazing to hear some of these people and some of the stuff they are getting on their liberal news channels that don't explain really what's going on. host: anthony in texas, republican. hi, anthony. caller: hey, how are you? host: doing well. caller: good. i have a few things to say. one, i love what president trump did in venezuela. i have family that are in paraguay. they always talk about the issues of government and stuff like that in south carolina. quite frankly, i think it is long overdue. i want to wrap up my words with this. god bless america, god bless our troops and god bless donald trump. thank you so much.

host: that was anthony in texas, a republican, applauding the trump administration's actions. we are waiting outside of the courtroom in new york. there is a live shot for the arraignment to begin at noon eastern time. we are moments away here from the arraignment of nicolas maduro. we are going to bring you new york one's live special coverage at noon eastern time. they will have a reporter in the courtroom. not cameras but a reporter. they will get some details of the courtroom proceedings, when that takes place. the judge that will be sitting in on the charges, overseeing the proceeding today, was appointed by bill clinton. he's in his 90's, according to reports this morning. and, we will learn more from spectrum new york one, starting at noon eastern time. reuters, with their reporting today, earlier, maduro in new

york court on u.s. drug charges, as venezuelans grapple with his capture. just some details from reuters reporting about that raid that took place over the weekend. delete u.s. troops, including the army's delta force create an exact replica of the safe house and how they would fortify residents. they had a small group on the ground who would provide insight into maduro's pattern of life, that made grabbing him seamless. with the pieces in place, president trump approved the operation four days ago but military suggested he wait for better weather and less cloud cover. at 10:40 six eastern, trump gave the final go-ahead for operation absolute resolve. tom in arizona, democratic caller. caller: hello. i want to make a comment following that story.

i spend a lot of time listening to everything. i caught some perspective of -- that's not being shown on regular major networks, cnn, msnbc. i tuned into bbc. and i'm hearing more things on bbc than i hear from the american news media. especially with regards to the people of venezuela themselves and how they are handling the situation and how they feel about what's going on in their future, especially with the fact that in the past election, machado won 70% of the vote. yet, our american government is pooh-poohing the idea that she has a shot to make the country a better place. the other thing i think is being missed is that still in ukraine,

the ties between venezuela and russia, putin and all of the other international countries, is kind of taking a sideline. it's almost like this is a smokescreen to hide the things that are going on, in the horrible arena of ukraine. anyway, bbc has a lot of good stuff if people want to find out. host: on your point about the venezuelan opposition leader who did win the nobel peace prize, politico pass noted today that a washington post piece is going viral, a claim that president trump is refusing to support opposition leader maria corina machado for the presidency because she accepted the nobel peace prize this year, an award he has long coveted. here is a quote. if she had turned it down and said i can't accept it because it's donald trump's, she'd be

the president of venezuela today , said a person close to the white house, quoted in this washington post piece. rosemary in rockville, independent. caller: i'm glad you brought that up because that's what i want to make a point about. is that machado is -- was overwhelmingly elected and she has been denied the presidency. i don't understand, except with the washington post saying it, she got the nobel peace prize and he didn't and he's totally jealous. what will happen to venezuela going forward. -- going forward? he says they will rule the country. marco rubio yesterday backpedaled on that, saying we will do other things involving oil. what doesnobody gives us the de. except it just looks us --

everybody just says he has oil 20 times on saturday, meaning trump. it just stinks. this country needs to go forward. i am not saying maduro should not have been taken out -- ok, fine, what is to prevent us from going anywhere else and taking leaders from other countries? host: president trump did, in his discussion with reporters yesterday, threaten five other countries as well. it sounds like you're concerned about that. caller: exactly. what is to stop him from that? why can't we just take vladimir putin out of moscow, right? he is the biggest terrorist of all in the whole world right now, for four years almost, with ukraine. the world is such a bad place right now. i just don't think he is making things better, except for himself financially. host: rosemary there in new york

with her thoughts. you are looking at a live shot outside at manhattan courthouse, where nicolás maduro will appear momentarily. from reporting on the trump administration, in 2020, during trump's first term, maduro was indicted by federal court on u.s. drug charges, including narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. august 7, the department of justice doubled an award or information leading to maduro's arrest to $50 million, accusing him of being one of the largest narco terrorist traffickers in the world. this weekend, the president decided to make a move on maduro and capture him and his wife, bringing them to new york. they have been held in a brooklyn jail earlier today, transported to this new york courthouse. the shot on your screen right now. spectrum's ny1 is about to begin their live special coverage of

the arraignment of nicolás maduro here in just moments, and we will bring you that coverage here on c-span. we will simulcast what they are covering. they have a reporter in the room outside the courthouse as well, and we will return to your phone calls. let's go to spectrum' news ny1 now. [video clip] >> before a judge in federal court in -- any moment now. they were transferred and brought to new york after a military operation in venezuela over the weekend resulted in their capture. they are expected to plead not guilty to charges of drug trafficking conspiracy, and other crimes you see on your screen. we have complete coverage for you today. i am joined in studio by our political anchor and our national correspondent, and bernadette is outside -- we want

to begin in lower manhattan. what is the scene like out there now? >> hi, that's right. nicolás maduro and his wife, cilia flores, will be indicted in a narco-terrorism drug trafficking conspiracy case. his wife, his son -- >> a little bit of an audio issue there. we will try to get back to dan. let's get to emma barnett. you had been at the detention center all weekend, getting reaction from new yorkers and protesters alike. tell us what you're seeing out there now. this is where maduro is being held. >> yeah, on saturday night, there were hundreds of venezuelans outside the metropolitan detention center absolutely jubilant. they were crying tears of joy.

they had venezuelan flags draped around them. they were singing songs and dancing cared for them, the capture of venezuelan president nicolás maduro was a huge deal, and for them, it was something to celebrate. today, there is not as much action at the marital fault -- metropolitan detention center. but earlier this morning around 7:15 a.m., nicolás maduro was transported by helicopter and taken to 500 pearl street in order to be arraigned. outside the united states district court down there, there is a bit of a clash going on between people who are against the decision to capture the venezuelan president and venezuelans who are thrilled about the military operation that captured maduro. those new yorkers who are against the capture of maduro say they are concerned this could set a global precedent. >> i think it is important to

demand the release and freedom of president nicolás maduro and the first madam, first lady,. and that -- first lady cilia flores cilia flores -- it just once the oil. >> it is completely outrageous to kidnap the president and first lady of another country and bring them here. there is no justification for it. it is an outright act of military aggression. >> secretary of state marco rubio made his rounds on the sunday shows. when he was on abc "this week," he said maduro was an illegitimate president. maduro also helped manage and lead a cartel and was an oppressive and brutal dictator, which is why, on the other side of people who are part of the antiwar rally, you see hundreds of venezuelans who are jubilant

and ecstatic about the fact maduro is in u.s. custody. they say american intervention was necessary. >> i am 24 years old, and his regime has been over 26 years. i never saw my country free. i did not grow up in a freem government. we are here to useadu, voices of truth, and we know with the u.s. government, we will -- >> we are here to defend our freedom, defend democracy. a lot of people say, if you are not in venezuela, actually, people in venezuela cannot speak. they can die or go to prison. >> many of the venezuelans i spoke to, their immediate reaction was pure joy, and they are also a little anxious, because we are entering uncharted territory. many of them do not know exactly what it means that donald trump he will run the country.

nevertheless, they are thrilled that maduro is no longer in venezuela. >> thank you. i want to continue the conversation now. let's start with where emma was, an infamous detention center. a lot of our viewers know who were there, luigi mangione, diddy at one point. >> this is a lockup for the federal courts. it is controversial, because it is not very well run. it has come under a lot of criticism because of the physical deterioration of the place. it is not a pleasant place. jails are not supposed to be. on the other hand, it is not supposed to be a punishment in and of itself. this is for new york city -- this is, for new york city, not that unusual. we have had very high-profile terrorists, narco traffickers, mobsters, criminals of all sorts who are tried in the heart of

manhattan, just a few steps from wall street, not far from the world trade center site. that is where this is going to happen. >> and this court appearance underway. josh joining me on the set. talk about the anaphora -- national significance about this. we saw protests. there was also jubilance. the reaction has been swift and conflicted in a lot of places in the country. >> i think a lot of people are still trying to process this. a lot of people do not know a tremendous about about venezuela, and it came more to headlines as the united states was opening up these military operations against venezuela in recent months. the way i see it, there is a number of arguments to be made pro and con for this. pro, as the president has talked about, this is someone who was indicted already. that indictment was kept by the biden department of justice. there was a bounty on his head.

the president and his administration actually got him, whereas, previously, the biden administration did not. additionally, venezuela is a haven -- has been a haven for our enemies, or our adversaries, china, hezbollah, iran. you can make the argument -- there are big differences, but those of a certain age will remember the united states did something like this in 1989, when the military plucked out the leader of panama. obviously, there are differences, but in that situation, it was applauded by a vast majority of united states. that invasion, that taking of the leader of panama, was done without congressional approval, just like this one. the argument against, there was no congressional approval, there is no popular buy in, the united states did not prep the people for this, it invites russia and china to do the same in its own backyard. essentially, and i think you will hear this more and more,

the president probably did not make any friends this way -- he talked about this repeatedly being largely about oil, for a number of people, the smacks of what the united states has done previously in that part of the world, which is gunboat diplomacy. not fruit this time, not resorts, but oil. >> i am hearing we are getting dan back again, you got us, what is it like out there? >> that is right. all the reporters here are just waiting to find out what happens inside that courthouse where nicolás maduro and his wife, cilia flores, are being arraigned. they and his son and two leaders of the tren de aragua gang. the indictment has details of how they used estate assets and different part of the venezuelan

government to facilitate cocaine trafficking around south america into the united states. one detail of that incitement -- indictment that touches on new york, the justice department alleges maduro's son, in collaboration with drug traffickers, try to bring 500 kilos of cocaine into new york, low quality cocaine, that a family cannot be sold in miami. it was taken off a cargo ship in miami and used in steel containers to be smuggled into new york. let's go through the four accounts of the indictment against maduro and his wife. one account of narco-terrorism and conspiracy, one count of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and a shirt or devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. and the indictment against maduro and his allies in different narco-terrorist

groups, from militant groups in colombia, it financed its operations with proceeds from cocaine trafficking, two mexican cartels, and the tren de aragua gang in venezuela. let's take a look at the judge who is overseeing this arraignment, judge alvin hellerstein. he is a senior judge in the southern district. he is also 92 years old and has been on top of some high-profile cases, even recently. take, for example, judge hellerstein oversaw president trump's attempt to move his state criminal case into federal court. hellerstein also just recently ruled against the trump administration's effort to deport venezuelans under the alien enemies act. the judges also overseeing a narco-terrorism case against maduro's former intelligence chief. we know maduro is being represented by a lawyer, barry pollack, who had another high-profile client, julian assange of wikileaks. >> thank you.

we have another reporter inside the courtroom. this courtroom, there are no cameras allowed inside, so as soon as that wraps up, she will bring us the details from inside. as josh pointed out earlier, a lot of questions remain about the trump administration's plans moving forward. for now, president trump is celebrating maduro's capture and this arraignment. here are some of what he said to reporters on air force one yesterday. >> the case is infallible. people are so happy with what we have done. you go down to miami, you go down to a lot of places, and they are dancing in the streets. he killed millions of people. he killed millions and millions of. >> for more on the reaction, i want to bring in our colleague from outside the white house. as you saw there, trump celebrating the capture and

indictment. there is lingering confusion over who is overseeing policy in venezuela. what do we know right now as to who is playing that active role? >> yeah, this remains very fluid, and we continue to press the trump administration for clarity. there are two different messengers emerging from the administration. the president held a press conference in florida. he said, point blank, in his view the u.s. government was going to run venezuela. he reiterated that on air force one last night, saying people might think this is controversial, but we are in charge. then you have secretary of state marco rubio, one of the main point people overseeing this entire military operation, and the president's national security adviser. he made the rounds on the sunday political shows and said repeatedly this was not the u.s. government taking over venezuela but that the u.s. government was going to essentially be helping navigate this post maduro

environment, especially having to do with venezuela's oil economy. also, the president's u.n. ambassador, michael waltz, he reiterated, in his view, this was a law enforcement operation, because the maduros were facing this indictment and charges from 2020 and that the u.s. government was not running venezuela as a whole. there is confusion, because president trump is at the top of the hierarchy, and he keeps saying the u.s. government is running things. those below him, who have direct stakes in this operation moving forward, insist it is a bit more complex than that. for the world is watching. last night on air force one, the president named several other countries he essentially ended at or fired a warning shot, saying the u.s. could get involved in ways similar to what we saw the u.s. do in venezuela over the weekend. the president talked about cuba, mexico, iran, colombia, and he also talked about greenland. as president trump marks his

first year back in office, one year later this month, foreign policy continues to consume him. people are not only watching this case play out, they also are watching what this means for u.s. military involvement moving forward and whether the trump administration sees it worthwhile spending time and resources. >> and getting an update from the blog, the judge is reading charges against the maduros now. president trump did not seek congressional operation. talk about the pushback he is getting right now. >> there's a lot of frustration on capitol hill. we know there is going to be a closed-door briefing on the hill later today. secretary of state marco rubio and other top administration officials will meet with some of the key lawmakers. these are the gang of eight, the top congressional leaders and the heads of the intelligence committees in the house and senate. they are privy to the highest class of intelligence, and they will finally get a briefing on this. we know other top members of the

relevant committees, foreign relations, but from democrats, there is widespread outcry. they are not necessarily defending nicolás maduro. many of them are critical of him. but they say it is in saying the trump administration conducted this military operation without briefing congress, without coming to congress with -- before authorization. but as i mentioned earlier how secretary of state rubio keeps calling this a law enforcement operation linked to the 2020 indictment, the trump administration claims they did not have to clue in congress at a time, because this was not a military operation but a law enforcement operation. but democrats in congress are really scrutinizing that. we could see resolutions being voted on, things called or power resolutions, where congress is saying to the white house, you need to consult us and come through to us. but it is significant. it is in the weeds, but members of the intelligence committee, they were not made aware of

this, and over the weekend, many of them were saying, after this became public news, they had not been briefed on the democratic side. that is notable and will lead to a lot of scrutiny moving forward. >> i want to talk more about these charges -- just getting in that he has pleaded not guilty officially. talk to us through these charges. what should people understand? >> it is not necessarily saying everything here is what maduro personally had in. it is conspiracy, that he is acting with other bad actors. there is something called overt acts, which break out certain elements or actions taken throughout this conspiracy over a broad period of time, not necessarily in 2024 or 2023 but in the early 2000's. so why the conspiracy involving venezuela, mexican drug cartels,

and the united states? there are questions about how is that he can be here, he is a head of state, how can our government prosecute someone who is a head of state? we saw noriega go through something similar. but now that maduro is here, i will not expect the courts will say let's maybe send him home. he is here. that is not going to change. this case will move forward and rise and fall on the merits of the allegations and the evidence that is there. i will say this briefly and quickly, what i think will be interesting here, it did not seem to happen now, but there is a 70 day clock which could theoretically tick for speedy trial purposes. prosecutors would normally be aware this was coming, they would be working with the fbi, for example -- they were not informed, so some of these prosecutors must be scribbling as well, even though there was a previous indictment were a lot of this evidence came out.

a lot of this will be discovery, catch up. >> i imagine it is quite complicated and difficult, stacking up witnesses for a trial like this. people cooperating with the government, that has to have a whole security apparatus that is not the norm. >> having cooperators is not typical, but yes, this is a very unique case on so many grounds. we do not have to go through it all now on air, but it is absolutely the situation, that is why some of the tools the defense may have and may consider using is the prosecutors may be ready, in theory. are they ready for everything in the depth they want to be with such a little amount of notice? because they were not part of the secret group of people who knew this was going to happen in securing the presence of the venezuelan president. it will be interesting going forward, but it is a frightening place to be. no one wants to be in the metropolitan detention center. this is not the halls of governance in venezuela.

and there is real present consequences come a long term, for the rest of his life, if convicted. >> also the fact that we are in new york city for this case, why not prosecute in a place that is favorable to the government? >> a lot of actions come back to new york and the venue that can be picked here is somewhat fluid, but there is a piece of it that comes back to new york, and that is why it is here. is it going to be a jury trial? it certainly could be. i cannot speak and say what will happen, but it would shock nobody if there is some sort of workout agreement at some point where the government, meeting president trump, says we want these oil resources to it it should not be part of this legal due process. and maybe he goes back to venezuela and serves part of his sentence or there is an agreement to get a limited sentence. who knows? a lot to figure out. >> all right, thank you. want to bring errol and josh back in.

let's talk about what this means for the trump justice department. >> the justice department has begun crafting an argument that, if you listen to it, is somewhat subtle. they are saying, we sent troops in pursuant to executing a criminal warrant, that we needed to bring this person here for trial, and to the extent that u.s. troops came under fire or were being interfered with, that is what the point of the military was in being there. so it looks a little less like gunboat diplomacy and more like a criminal action. that brings us somewhat towards justice as opposed to a naked exercise of power. on the other hand, there are important questions this justice department will be asked. one is there is a clear international rule against going into -- violating the sovereignty of another country and doing things like seizing their head of state and dragging them out in jane's. the u.s. is party to those treaties and therefore is under that force of law.

you have international law being violated, you have domestic law where it is little more ambiguous. the justice department will have to answer those questions as it moves forward. though obviously the facts on the ground are really going to dictate what goes on. they have him, he is in custody, he is in court, he is being charged. it is a straightforward indictment, arguing that cocaine importation and firearms and weapons charges are what he is being hit with. they either have the evidence or they do not. we will be watching this play out on a political tract, on an international, legal track, and domestic laws. >> and as we get more notes from the courtroom, maduro repeatedly asserting he is still the leader of venezuela. talk a little more about what errol was getting too, the political ramifications, when you have members of the house confused and the u.s. government saying we are taking over venezuela, at least for now, perhaps not. >> picking up on what he said,

is he actually the sovereign leader of venezuela? he stole the last election, by everyone's accounts, except for his own and his own supporters' . that gets to internal venezuelan politics. i think it is hard to entirely separate the concern that democrats and many others have in this from a polarized environment we are in nationally. i want to stress there are differences to what happened in panama in 1989, the least of which is panama has a long-standing relationship with the united states, we had many more troops there, so long. then again, congress was briefed -- not congress itself. leaders of congress were briefed in 1989. may be the trump administration should've done that in the last minute, four or eight individuals. but there was no vote. there were tons of support within the united states back in the 1980's for george h.w. bush doing something similar. a leader of a latin american

country indicted on drug charges and plucked out by a military operation. it actually seemed to be more complicated in panama. but brought to the united states for trial. it is hard to separate that. in addition, the polarization, how much this will affect americans. we are reporting on air that gas prices in the united states -- this was even before this was factored in what happened in venezuela, which has the most amount of petroleum reserves of any place -- gas prices are the lowest since 2020. experts say that price, because of what happened in venezuela, will not go down anytime soon. it takes a long time for executives and engineers to come in there. i am not sure how much this matters on a day today, except for a very important but perhaps more abstract level, which is, do we want, in our name come americans to be going into another country? gratefully, no american troops were killed. but if we have to have troops on the ground and gis end up getting killed, that would change things.

>> yeah, that is very striking. some of what president trump has said that we are in charge here, it sounded like an open-ended commitment. unlike panama in the 1990's. this is a very violent, very disorganized country, in a lot of ways. one third of the country has left, creating a regional and international refugee crisis, all stemming from venezuela. this will not be a simple operation, and the 15,000 troops in the region now will not be enough to pacify a country that is twice the size of california with over 30 million people. to the extent the president has been making comments on maybe we will do the same thing in colombia, it starts to lend itself to this kind of fear there could be a regional commitment, and that is the kind of thing we have been -- seen in iraq, in afghanistan. we saw it in a generation ago in vietnam. these are the kinds of questions i will be raised in congress, not simply because they were cut out of the information loop, but

because we are opening the door to what could be a real serious commitment. this is how these things start. >> stand by. i want to bring in another person into the conversation to discuss the events for the last few days. i want to bring in an associate professor at nyu and a historian of latin american history. thank you for being with us. talk about your reaction to what we have seen the last couple days. what is going through the minds of other leaders, particularly those perhaps not aligned with the u.s. intervention on saturday morning? >> in the hemisphere, you have a mixed response. you have some leaders, like that of argentina or the incoming president of chile -- not only actively supporting this but celebrating it. on the other hand, you have countries like mexico and colombia and, very notably, brazil sounding a deep sense of

alarm for what this means, not only in terms of legal precedent but what it means for return of 20th century policy it and interventionism, whether direct or indirect. someone earlier in your marks mentioned gunboat diplomacy, and a lot of it looks like this. >> let's talk about what it also means for geopolitics in latin america generally. what happened in venezuela, does it compare to military action in the past? what could it also open the door to in the future? >> obviously, there are lots of parallels to be drawn. my sense, at least for now, as we are witnessing something pretty unprecedented. it is not regime change. the regime itself, all of maduro 's inner circle remains in place, and they weren't recognized by trump and rubio and others as the de facto leaders. it is not quite a conventional

regime change. people in venezuela are asking what actually changed from saturday to today? on the other hand, the concern here, as your guest was saying, is if there is, at some point, actual troops on the ground in order to defend or protect u.s. interests, especially oil interests, how would that dynamic change? my own senses trump is not thinking in those terms, which suggests there may be some bluffing going on in terms of how much they can exert pressure on the new government of venezuela. >> and we do not know exactly what is going on in these private conversations between the president and his cabinet, but where do you realistically see the trump administration going, they are planned for latin america, our relationship with venezuela now? >> your corresponded to it out well, there are a lot of mixed messages, in some was contradictory messages, going on. trump seems to be asserting this

idea that not only will the united states be running venezuela but there may be larger hemispheric implications, which is raising the alarm bells for many countries in the region. at the end of the day, the question is, is the united states prepared to intervene more robustly in venezuela? my sense is, at least for now, that is not in the cards. but they have a massive damocles sword hanging over them, saying if you do not do what we say, we will be prepared to undertake actions like we did this past weekend. at that point, it would be tit-for-tat in terms of the rule of power rather than law. >> stand by. i want to bring in jeremy again. getting notes from the courtroom. both have plead not guilty, maduro and his wife. maduro continues to say he is acting leader of venezuela. how does that play into the case against maduro? >> certainly you would expect

them to say he is a legitimate leader, but there is a principle of immunity, potentially, for someone who was a head of state. and we will look at the indictment, because it is important. the government is trying to say he is not legitimate. for example come out of the gate, it says the public trust and corrupted once legitimate institution, the saying he illegally got authority. even the next page says he was an illegitimate government. the principal's we could take you, for lack of a better term, you do not have the ability to be immune through your actions that were part of your governmental job and what you did as a governmental leader, because you were an illegitimate leader, not a head of state. you do not enjoy those privileges. and what you did and how we will pierce that veil is that you were committing these crimes in a private way to enrich yourself.

it would not have surprised me if, when he went in there, he said i do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court, i am the leader of a foreign, sovereign nation. but it is the same principle, you cannot do this to me as a matter of law. but we are here now, it is going to fail, it will move forward. >> and they were not seeking bail. what can you say about that? >> that is clear and obvious he will not get bail. you will not put their man in an ankle monitor and say give me your passport. they blindfolded him, blocked his ears, handcuffed in -- him. he is going nowhere other than the metropolitan detention center until this case is resolved. >> stand by as we continue the conversation. i want to break down what we heard from our guests. our guest was talking about, eventually -- we picked up here the last time we were chatting -- if you do not do what i say, there will be consequences. hard to imagine those

consequences not involving u.s. troops. >> that is right. this is about force versus justice. you have due process and all the trappings of due process, and that is what is going on in the courthouse, but the president has made clear there will be other decisions made out of the pentagon, and those are going to involve force. he has been talking about possibly reenacting what we just saw over the weekend in other countries or against other figures, even within venezuela, saying we are in charge here, not citing any legal principle at all. we know the wall street journal has reported a delegation of 20 business people is already scheduled to go down in march and look for investment opportunities in venezuela. there will be a lot of political turmoil. not so much in venezuela, although that will certainly happen, but here in the united states, there will be vigorous debate over whether this is the right thing to do, whether this is leading us to some kind of occupation and quagmire, whether or not this was only about oil

in the first place and not really about drugs or violence, and again, you're talking about a country where there is a very high right -- high rate of homicide, a very high level of violence in the first place. this will not be as easy as the trump administration has portrayed. this is not simply capturing a bag and putting him on trial in manhattan. that is the start of it, but it will go to a lot of different places from here. >> any thoughts on that? >> one of the first things i thought of when i heard about this earlier over the weekend was kubo. i think this is about hegemony -- was cuba. i think this is about hegemony in the western hemisphere. it will be extremely complicated to see how the trump administration can hang the sword, as the professor said it, over the new administration in venezuela. what will he actually want? i guess it will be some sort of oil deals favorable to the united states. i think it will be the leaving of venezuela of china, russia,

cuba, hezbollah. you could say it is immoral, illegal, but it is the natural order of nations. this is the united states seeking to have its own power, flexing its own power and interests in the western hemisphere in particular. a lot of people are claiming this was a violation of venezuelan sovereignty. i understand that, and there is a legitimate argument to be made. you can also make the arguments venezuela sovereignty has already been violated, and it was not by the united states. it was by maduro, who stayed in power, even after handily losing an election, for inviting all these foreign actors in, were not exactly beacons of democracy in the world. so if the sovereignty is already going to be violated, why should it not be from a force seen as more benign, or certainly more

self-interested, which is the united states? again, from a practical point of view -- and these are important things for americans to consider. but on the day today, i am not sure this affects gas prices anytime soon, and really, people will only be affected measurably if there is a war, if there are u.s. deaths, and if taxes have to be raised because we are now at more war. this is arguably very, very dangerous. why wouldn't china and russia want to do that now? >> dan is outside the courthouse. what is a scene like there? i imagine there are still protesters. >> has been quite busy all through the morning, not only reporters from local, national, and international news outlets waiting for the arraignment to begin, checking maduro's transfer from the detention center and coming here to lower

manhattan by helicopter, than the actual arraignment. as the date got underway and the sun came up, you saw protesters here, pretty much out one section far down the block from where i am standing come across the street from the entrance of the federal manhattan court. of course, you have had a lot of venezuelan ex-pats who are cheering, basically in favor of president trump's action in venezuela. a few signs i saw said free venezuela. they were met by a smaller but still decent sized amount of protesters, who were -- hands off venezuela, no war in venezuela. quite peaceful, if angry. a lot of commentary being yelled back and forth between that. but has been a well controlled environment. nypd have basically controlled the chaos which happens with such a high-profile case.

again, a lot of reporters here, basically getting the details in as of this arraignment gets underway. we have some notes from the associated press. they have been updating a website with what has been happening. so the limited times maduro and his wife cilia have been able to speak in court, they have been putting that on the wire. you hear maduro say i am a decent man, the president of my country, saying he is innocent, not guilty. his wife cilia also claiming her innocence, that she is not guilty. both of them have been wearing headsets for english to spanish translation. at one point, maduro said he did not read the indictment and did not know if his right, as the judge went through the formalities of the arraignment. >> as this court hearing is wrapping up -- again, they typically tend to be brief, around 38 minutes, what do we do here? what comes next? >> there will be a conference

date. it does not just go from now up to trial. i would assume, as i mentioned before, some of this discovery is likely ready to go because there is a superseding indictment, a second time, where a lot of the allegations were dealt with previously, even though these defendants are now first in custody. but these are the questions. there may be applications and questions to challenge the laws and whether the court follows that, there is that blueprint of noriega and how he got here. but it will be a slower process. you will not have people rappelling -- not that they were directly -- in the "mission impossible" birds view of him being walked out of court in handcuffs. now it is the time to do the work in the courtroom. >> i want to bring back the panel of errol and josh, and our viewers across the country are joining us. we have a new mayor here in new

york city. a huge scale operation by the nypd and others to make this transport happen. even though it is a local story here in new york city, there are many moving parts to this. our new mayor mamdani, having this relationship with president trump, now having this indictment in our city. >> the mayor apparently contacted the president and spoke with him personally. if he said what was reported to us, i cannot imagine he got a great response from donald trump. on the other hand, his political -- he has political commitment and has to honor those, and that means speaking up when he feels the values of new yorkers are being violated. there are going to be a lot of protesters on the streets, because there are a lot of venezuelan skier, not just as migrants or refugees but as longtime residents of the city. there will be a lot of protests and actions around the united nations, also headquartered here. we are in for it. this discussion will play out on the streets of new york. >> talk about that, just in the context of national political figures. it is a hot topic for our mayor

and city government, but we saw it with house democrats, the way they reacted. >> and some people say it is rich that mamdani came into office vowing to arrest benjamin netanyahu, another elected leader, like him or hate him. the man was elected, and this mayor wants to have him arrested in a foreign country. aside from that, i think house democrats are going to be raising the issues that they were not clued in on this, that this is a violation of international law come of national law, that this is a -- of international law, national law, that -- the stocks are doing well today. energy stocks are up. american firms -- chevron is already there, but american firms see a real opportunity within venezuela. i am not sure that gas prices would go down as much as people might hope. they are already at the lowest level since 2020. nonetheless, the question is that people need to be asking is

the sovereignty of cuba had already been breached, many people could say, by other countries hostile to interests of human rights, like russia, china, iran. the united states is going in there and trying to keep peace, according to the trump administration, in its own backyard, the western hemisphere. >> and you see the next hearing is set for march 17. again, getting notes from court. the attorney for maduro's wife saying his client sustained health and medical issues that require attention, saying she may have a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs and need an x-ray. maduro and flores agreeing to remain detained for now. there are attorneys saying they could revisit a bail application at a later date. his attorney also saying there were questions about the legality of the military abduction -- i guess that is not a total surprise. >> right now, this is a losing

argument. first of all, they do not have a lot of opportunity to be their clients. there just come from custody. it is not easy, when there is such a security, to make the application at a later date. but it surprised nobody there would be a deal that they could allow them to come out. these are people that, no matter what the allegations are, i have an incredible risk of flight. how they will approach this is yet to be seen, but i suspect that will not change, even with the best efforts by counsel. >> let's bring back emma barnett, at the detention center where maduro and his wife are being held. that court hearing wrapping up. people still gathering over there, this infamous detention center where he will be held in a bit once again. >> yeah, people are not on-site here but outside the u.s. southern district court. there are a lot of new yorkers with a lot of opinions. you can see people who were clashing at one point on one

side -- on one side, you have people there as part of an antiwar demonstration. they are against any american military intervention. on the other site, you have new yorkers thrilled with this military operation couldn't be happier that america got involved, as they say, the country has been trying for the past 26 years to get rid of the maduro regime, and it has not worked. in their minds, this was the last and final option, something many of them had been hoping for. i want you to take a listen to what some of those antiwar protesters had to say. i am not sure if we are getting that sound right now -- i am not sure if we are getting that sound right now, but a lot of the people on the antiwar side of this protest were against that american intervention at any cost. but on the venezuelan side, you had people who were screaming at

the people on the antiwar side of the barricade, saying that they do not understand what it is like to live under the maduro regime. they do not understand what it is like to go to prison for speaking your mind. they do not understand what it is like to live under an oppressive and brutal dictatorship. you have these two sites where there is almost a bit of a disconnect. people from venezuela peeking out, celebrating, thrilled the united states got involved. on the other side, you have people from the united states who do not want the united states getting involved in south america. >> thank you. let's bring back taylor popielarz. politically quite complicated. we still do not know who will be running venezuela, who was running it now. president trump continues to say the u.s. did this very successfully and that there is going to be a success in the region and beyond. >> that is right.

there are so many unknowns. as of now, we are not even schedule to see the president on camera today. i could always change. this afternoon and he has what is billed as a policy meeting in the oval office, but that is listed as closed to press right now. so we are honestly just waiting to see what happens. i cannot emphasize enough how stunning the president's remarks were on air force one last night, not only talking about venezuela, where he said if the venezuelan leaders currently in office, do not cooperate, there could be a second military strike -- i want to redo some of the quotes he said. he said, quote, "cuba is ready to fall." talking about mexico, he said "you have to do something about mexico." talking about iran, as protests are going on there, "if they start killing people like they have in the past, i think they will get hit very hard" meaning by the u.s. military. he said of colombia's president, "he is not going to be doing it very long."

then he talked about greenland and said he still wants the u.s. taking over greenland from the standpoint of national security. world leaders in every corner of the globe are trying to figure out how serious the president is and whether or not what we have seen unfold in venezuela the last 20 -- the last few hours is a one off or if it is the sign of greater things to come. i think josh was talking about cuba and mentioned secretary of state marco rubio. for people not familiar with him, his parents fled cuba decades ago, and he has been acutely tuned into the politics in cuba and venezuela. it is unsurprising he is so involved in this. even over the weekend, in announcing this operation, he said if you were a member of the government in havana, cuba, he would be worried moving forward, and he would keep an eye on what the u.s. is going to do. there are so many potential dominoes that could fall going forward, much less trying to

figure out what will happen to venezuela itself, how involved the u.s. government will be, how involved the u.s. military will be. you have spoken a lot about oil companies. president trump has mentioned the turmoil a couple dozen times over the last couple days and said on air force one that, in essence, he told a lot of u.s. oil executives this operation, or something of this like, would be coming. there is a direct economic tide to this, a direct foreign policy tie and a direct u.s. military tie in terms of boots on the ground. >> thank you for breaking it down for us. i want to go to ayana harry, who was inside the courtroom. she is now outside court with that update. what can you tell us about what you saw there? >> this is really a stunning turn of events. just 72 hours ago, nicolás maduro was the leader of venezuela. but just after noon come around 12:03 -- just after noon,

around 12:03, nicolás maduro was escorted in the courtroom wearing jail-issued clothes. at one point, he stood up and said to the judge, i am the president of venezuela. he also went on to say he had been kidnapped from his home in caracas. and he went on to plead not guilty to all four counts in this indictment. nicolas maduro also waived any right to bail at this moment, so he is not requesting bail. maduro will remain in custody, and so will his wife come until the next court date in this case, march 17. ultimately, this is a case about guns and drugs. the indictment filed in this case accuses maduro of working with government allies, notorious gangs, and violent cartels to smuggle thousands of tons of cocaine into the united states. federal prosecutors believe his

corruption and actions began long before nicolás maduro was the president of venezuela. some of these action state all the way back to 1999, when he was a member of the state government in venezuela. i have a few more details from the indictment. he is accused of working with groups like the sinaloa cartel and tren de aragua to traffic drugs into the united states of america. four counts in this case, four counts against venezuelan, former venezuelan president nicolás maduro, including narco-terrorism conspiracy and position of machine guns and destructive devices. for now, nicolás maduro will remain in the custody of the federal government, until at least his next court date march 17. we learned a few more things in court today. cilia flores, nicolás maduro's wife, her defense attorney said

she did sustain some injuries as they were taken into custody in venezuela, so she has requested radical attention. for now, mr. and mrs. maduro will remain in federal custody. >> i want to thank you for watching our live coverage here at ny1. we will bring you back to your local programming right now. host: spectrum news ny1's live coverage out of new york of the arraignment of nicolás maduro, the deposed venezuelan leader, along with his wife. you have been watching ny1's special coverage, part of c-span 's live coverage of the u.s. action in venezuela. we will get your thoughts on what you heard on the arraignment of nicolás maduro, the court proceedings, and what comes next. democrats, dial in at

202-748-8921, republicans 202-748-8920, independents at 202-748-8922, and venezuelans, 202-748-8923. we are awaiting transportation back to that -- nicolás maduro and his wife plead not guilty during this arraignment preceding today. nicolás maduro saying, "i am a decent man, i am innocent, i am not guilty," and claiming he is still the president of venezuela. his wife, ce cilia flores, saying she is a first lady of venezuela. she is also known as the first combatant in venezuela, she also

plead not guilty. their attorneys not seeking bail at this moment but said they will put in an application later. the attorney for his wife saying she has health and medical needs that would require attention because of the capturing of the two of them just 72 hours earlier over the weekend, a surprise raid by the trump administration. getting your reaction to all of that. you can see the armored vehicle there starting to move away from that new york courthouse. also, we have been covering today, part of our live coverage of this story, the un security council, which held an emergency meeting today on the u.s. actions. it took place around 10:00 a.m. eastern time today, and it is still live on c-span 2. the debate still happening this afternoon. you can watch our coverage on c-span 2.

mike waltz, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, addressed the other officials in the room at this emergency meeting earlier today. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> this past weekend, colleagues, of the united states successfully carried out a surgical law enforcement operation, facilitated by the u.s. military, against two indicted fugitives of american justice, narco-terrorist nicolás maduro and cilia flores. colleagues, nicolás maduro is responsible for attacks on the people of the united states for destabilizing the western hemisphere, and illegitimately repressing the people of venezuela. ask secretary rubio has said, there is no war against venezuela or its people. we are not occupying a country. this was a law enforcement

operation in furtherance of lawful indictments that have existed for decades. the united states arrested a narco trafficker who will now stand trial in the united states in accordance with the rule of law for the crimes he's committed against our people for 15 years. a similar action was taken in 1989 against manuel noriega. he was arrested, indicted, convicted in a court of law, served in prison in the united states and in panama. and the panamanian people, the american people are safer for it. undeniably, the region was more stable. this law enforcement action was directed consistent with the

president of the united states' responsibility, as commander-in-chief, to protect americans, at home and abroad, against a fugitive directly responsible for narco-terrorism, who has killed hundreds of thousands of americans and created destabilizing violence throughout our hemisphere. nicolás maduro and his codefendant, cilia flores, have been transferred here to the united states to stand trial for their crimes. maduro was indicted by a grand jury in the southern district of new york and faces very serious criminal charges for his involvement in a wide-ranging conspiracy to conduct narco-terrorism, to traffic cocaine and other drugs, and conducting international weapons trafficking. the overwhelming evidence of his crimes will be presented openly in u.s. court proceedings. host: that was mike waltz, the

u.s. ambassador to the united nations, from earlier today during that emergency meeting called on u.s. action in venezuela. on your screen now, live coverage on the transportation of nicolás maduro to the detention center in brooklyn following his first court appearance since that surprise raid over the weekend where he and his wife pleaded not guilty on all charges. they claim they are still in leadership in venezuela, he is still the president, he said, venezuela, she claiming in court she is still the first lady of venezuela. we want to get your reaction to the court appearance by nicolás maduro and his wife and what comes next for the united states and venezuela. the president yesterday on air force one telling reporters we are in control of venezuela. what do you think of that? we go to brian in pennsylvania,

democratic caller. share your thoughts with us. caller: hello? host: we are listening to you. your turn. caller: you can hear me? sorry, it has been a wild. host: what are your thoughts on the court proceedings and we you have learned from spectrum news 13 ny1's special coverage? caller: so far, i have not heard anything from the court proceedings. they have not said much of anything other than keep pleaded not guilty. i actually wanted to talk about the situation you guys were talking about earlier -- host: alright, we are talking about venezuela. what do you think about the president's decision to go in there over the weekend? caller: honestly, i do not think anybody has an issue with taking maduro out of venezuela. i think the overall messaging is pretty bad. it looks ugly for us as a country, because the more and more donald trump speaks, the more and more it looks about

oil. i think he should let marco rubio handle the situation. i think his messaging is a lot different. but the overall motive is the same. they are pretty much going in there to take his oil. host: and are you concerned about that? caller: i am concerned where it puts us on the world stage. i am concerned where we are going with china, russia. if we are pushing our allies in their direction. i do not think the future is about oil, i think the future is about sustainable energy, where china is going. host: i will leave it there. the next court proceedings against nicolás maduro and his wife is set for march 17. today's proceedings were brief, 38 minutes. the two entering a plea of not guilty. they were assisted by their lawyers. according to cnn's reporting, nicolás maduro said he had partially spoken to his attorney and not yet fully briefed on the

charges, the indictment against him. josé in florida, republican. your thoughts? caller: yes, you know, i hear so many people talk, but a lot of people have never gotten a weapon and served over 30 yearse special forces. i love president trump. america ought to be grateful that we have such a wonderful president occurs for this country. every move that he has made -- and in the courts there -- i have a degree in administrative justice. maduro claims to be the president, but as i said, according to the people in the elections, he never won clearly. he overtook everything by a dictatorship.

his presidency is illegitimate. that is going to be what comes up in the trial, you know. he is going to fall by the wayside. he doesn't have stans to ground on being called the president. this man is evil. it takes people to overtake our country, for us it is nothing. we have a president who is a wimp. everybody respects trump. host: let's go to matthew in san antonio, texas. independent. your turn. caller: i am a young independent. i look at both sides of everything that is happening. when i woke up, forgive me, sunday, i saw what happened. gosh, ok. i was not too familiar with what

was happening, but what i can say, what has been coming to my mind, this was a long time coming. for me, i try not too much opinionated news. i try to go to neutral sources. what i did last night, i was up late, decided that i wanted to listen to the bbc. even they were surprised. an international company from the united states, they were surprised that people in other countries are now saying, why can't the u.s. come into our country and do this? i look at both sides. i truly believe trump is doing this because he wants the oil, but at the same time, they are taking action against this corrupt man that did not want to do anything legally. he wanted to do things his way.

for him to go to the court and say, i'm the president of venezuela, i was kidnapped. frankly, i feel it is more of a show. as a young person come independent, i see this as, we are trying to help the people of venezuela. there will be some things that we try to do to help them, maybe we will negotiate with the oil companies, try to get the oil from their, but technically we are helping them. host: do you think that congress should have been involved, members of congress should have had a say before the president went into venezuela? caller: in my opinion, i don't think it would have mattered. trump would have done it. he should have, but i don't think it would have mattered. host: the trump administration will go to capitol hill today to talk to a select few members of congress. they will get briefed by the secretary of state marco rubio,

defense secretary pete hegseth, an attorney general's pam bondi, along with cia director john ratcliffe. they will also hear from the joint chiefs of staff chair dan caine. the members of congress that will be in this closed-door meeting, secret meeting, will be those in leadership, as well as committee and ranking members of certain committees. there will also be an all members briefing later in the week. representative hakeem jeffries, the leader of the democrats in the house, was on nbc's "meet the press" yesterday and refuted the trump administration's justification for capturing maduro. [video clip] >> you just heard my conversation with secretary rubio, i asked about the administration's decision not to inform congress ahead of this operation until president maduro had been captured.

secretary rubio saying this was not the kind of mission where they could have afforded to notify congress, there were concerned about leaks. he made that point, president trump made the point. was the administration justified in this case in that briefing congress? >> there has been no evidence the administration has presented to justify the actions that were taken in terms of there being an imminent threat to the health, safety, well-being, national security of the american people. this was not simply a counter narcotics operation, it was an act of war. it involved the delta force -- and we are thankful for the position by which they executed the operation, thankful that no american lives were lost -- but this was a military action involving delta force, the army, apparently thousands of troops, involving at least 150 military aircraft.

perhaps involving dozens of ships off the coast of venezuela and south america. of course it was a military action. pursuant to the constitution, only congress has the power to declare war, to authorize acts that take place in this regard. we have to make sure that when we returned to washington, d.c., legislative action is taken to ensure that no further military steps occur absent explicit congressional approval. host: house democratic leader hakeem jeffries on meet the press. we will hear from him again today, 4:30 p.m. eastern time. he will have a news conference on capitol hill. you can watch live coverage on c-span, c-span now, our mobile video app, and c-span.org. members of congress are returning to washington and a select few will get a briefing on capitol hill later today, as

we told you, from the trump administration on these actions into venezuela. that taking place around 5:30 eastern time. there will be a camera outside the meeting, so look for our coverage on the c-span networks. president trump on his schedule today has a closed press policy meeting this afternoon, so we are not expecting to hear from them. should that open up to the press, look for that on our c-span networks, c-span now, c-span.org. we are getting your calls this afternoon in reaction to the arraignment of nicolas maduro and his wife in new york. they have left the court, put into an armored vehicle, being transported back to a brooklyn jail. from the associated press, it's a facility so troubled, some judges have refused to send people there even as it is house such famous inmates as r. kelly, sean diddy combs.

the metropolitan detention center currently houses about 1300 inmates. emmett in jonesboro, arkansas. democratic caller. hi, emmett. caller: good morning. first of all, i want to say that i'm an old man, lived under 16 presidents going back to hoover. this is the most incompetent president we've ever had in our nation. i am concerned. he has the most incompetent group of people around him serving him. i do absolutely think he should consult with congress about the actions he is taking. he is assuming a role that is not granted to him by the constitution in so many cases. although i have voted for republicans in the past, i long for the days of goldwater and the people that stand up for the

rights of americans. that may not happen, but i pray that the democrats get some spine, backbone, and demand the rights of the american people. definitely feel like it was a bad decision to go into venezuela. why not go into cuba, a lot of other countries and just take them? sounds like what trump plans to do. thank you for taking my call. host: tune in this weekend to our coverage on c-span, c-span2. we will have under encrypted coverage of the house floor where you can expect there will be some discussion and debate at least during morning hour, special orders that you'll hear in the house from members of congress concerned about what happened in venezuela. on the senate side, democrats

are looking to for some notes on a war powers resolution as early as possible, according to punch bowl news. some progressive members are already calling for trump's impeachment over this. the senate will vote this week on senator tim kaine's war powers effort. kevin in tampa, florida. republican. we will hear from you. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. as a 28-year veteran with the air force, serving with both the previous chairman of the joint chiefs and the current one, desert storm iraqi freedom, i am quite happy that maduro is in jail, and so is venezuela. i've worked in miami for almost 10 years, i know many venezuelans, and they are happy about it. host: why is that, kevin? based on your experience and what you know. caller: chavez started it, and i

had a friend stationed in venezuela. as soon a shabbos to power, we brought him home. that was a prosperous, democratic country, beautiful place to visit. with a rich oil reserves, of course. chavez and maduro turned it into a narco state, as it is called. it is unsafe, the people are miserable. people who speak their opinion are thrown in jail or executed. the country is junk now. hopefully, they will figure out, they need to get their act together and become a more democratic, responsible country. that is better for america, all of latin america. host: how do you respond to critics who say that the trump administration officials briefing members of congress and the media said that this was about fentanyl, yet the

indictment states cocaine, and there are numerous reports that the main sources of cocaine are not coming from venezuela but rather other latin american countries. what do you know to dispute that? caller: i don't know much to dispute that. i know most of the drugs come from or through mexico and latin america, we know that. most of them -- we reacted quite strongly under the bush administration in colombia, destroyed a big part of their cocaine running operations for a while. i had friends who were actively involved in that interdiction, and it works pretty well. peru seems to be doing fairly well. it is concentrated, as far as the people who are facilitating that.

we know that president maduro was facilitating that. we know those boats were not fishing boats. overall, venezuela is better off without him. all of latin america is. host: can i ask you your thoughts on the military actions, the specific actions? the joint chiefs chair general dan caine said the operation involve more than 150 aircraft lot from 20 bases around the western hemisphere, including f-35 and f-22 jets, b-1 bombers. special forces made their way into caracas heavily armed including with blowtorches in case they had to cut through steel doors. what do you make of that military operation? caller: excellent, and it went very well, and it didn't cost us a dime. the military gets paid whether they are fighting or training. i'm so happy we didn't lose any aircraft or personnel.

it just proves how good we are. as far as the international outrage, fake outrage, i found it rich that the united nations, the comments by the russian ambassador, ambassador from china when they talk about this. i guess russia forgot about ukraine, china must have forgotten about hong kong. we are better off without bad guys. trump is going to be playing lacrimal. he has three years left. she did it with iran, he did it with isis in syria, boko haram in nigeria, and he will continue to do so. i don't think trump really cares much. he will put his stamp on everything he can while he is in office. personally, if i were in the government in cuba, i would be making travel reservations. host: kevin talking about the un

security council having an emergency meeting. live coverage of that on c-span2 today. they started around 10:00 with u.s. debate in venezuela. more on our coverage of this story. new york city mayor mamdani will hold a news conference today at 2:45 eastern time with new york's governor kathy hochul. we expect they will get some questions about maduro being held at a brooklyn prison. you can watch on c-span at two: 45 eastern time, c-span now, or c-span.org. as we said earlier, hakeem jeffries, democratic leader in the house, will have a news conference at 4:30 eastern time. lachat on c-span, c-span now, c-span.org. members of congress will be briefed by trump administration officials around 5:30 p.m. eastern time. there will be a camera outside the closed door meeting.

go to c-span networks for our coverage, members of congress and possibly trumpet ministry should officials speak to reporters before and after that meeting. coming up next, back to you earlier today, senators rick scott and ashley moody, republican, florida senators held a briefing with members of the venezuelan community about the president's decision to go into venezuela this weekend. if you stop and think about how many years, so many people here have kept this issue alive so we can continue to fight for freedom and liberty in venezuela. the first thing we ought to do is give everybody in this room a big round of applause because everybody was a part of it. [applause] this only happened